I got a new fridge, a GE GYE22KSHSS, and it runs always.  It is a very faint whir that sounds like it's coming from the rear of the fridge.  Is this normal?  I'll ask my appliance guys too but... I like to get 2nd opinions.

From a quick look it appears that it may have a variable speed compressor that runs constantly at very low power instead of cycling on and off. That would be part of how it achieves low energy consumption (although it's still about 1.5X the best for that approximate size). So I think it's probably normal.

you better caught it......

With a variable speed compressor, running all the time is most efficient. But not so great for some people with solar - they would prefer a high mass refrigerator with a large compressor - so all power could be consumed over a 6 hour period and then mostly coast through the remaining hours of the day.